I am posting a response from another list I'm on, which rebutted my statements regarding Colloidal Silver (on that list). I will appreciate it if the knowledgeable ones on this list would read this -- sorry, it's long -- and respond with something that I can take to the other list. Many people who are unfamiliar with CS will read it, so if you could keep it fairly simply so that it can be digested by people who know nothing about CS. Thank you. MA
>>When some friends of mine found out I was using CS with success on some tough problems, they gently took me aside and cleared up some misconceptions. Because they both worked at MIT, and the wife went on to teach at Princeton (electron microscopy in determining cell response to disease) and the husband is now head of a company developing carbon nanosphere technology as a step beyond MRI imaging, I take their understanding as sound! CS, despite being called "nature's antibiotic", has no effect on fungal, baterial or viral pathogens.The mechanism by which CS "works" is this: Silver (and also gold, which you can also buy as a colloid) are inert metals as far as the body is concerned - no reaction. When a virus, for instance, enters a cell, the mitochondria of the cell are attracted to it and attach to the virus. The virus borrows the DNA from the mitochondria - it's necessary for the virus to do so in order to reproduce. When silver is present in the cells in the particle size that mimics a virus (and this is why particle size is very important) the mitochondria attach to the silver and become "busy" - they can't attach to the virus. Hence, virus can't reproduce and so die. Less virus present, less inflammatory response from the body. There's no inherent "immunity" with silver itself, and it doesn't "kill" virus, bacteria, or fungus, but it maintains the integrity of the cell by keeping it "busy" or "plugged". How does this work if the virus etc. is present, before the silver is introduced? Do the mitochondria prefer silver over virus and switch to it once it is available so the virus then "dies"? No, mitochondria don't "switch over". Silver has no effect on a cell already attacked by a virus (or bacteria or fungus). But the body is creating new cells all the time, and as all those new cells (or cells that are still unattacked) are "plugged" by silver, the virus loses the opportunity to reproduce and eventually dies out. Silver doesn't have any effect on a pathogen, so it can't "suffocate" or "kill" it. But the above explanation does lend itself to the idea of building an "immunity", although I doubt a scientist would agree with that interpretation. It also accounts for the response to "mechanical" inflammation. Inflammatory responses often work against the body, which would be similar to the reason you ice swellings. When the cell is busy or "plugged", it can't mount an over-reaction when irritated. The recommended 8-10 ppm is in line with what they know about this action - you don't want too much or too little. You do need the volume that dilution to 8-10ppm creates in order to disperse it through the body - because a percentage of it is going to be lost in the digestive tract or otherwise eliminated. If making your own, there are some issues - if you don't have rather sophisticated equipment you can't be sure of the particle size or concentration. Their feeling is that what you are making is actually silver salts, not colloidal silver. I said - "and yet it works for the people who make it" and they said that sufficient amounts in an adequate particle size (through volume) could still be getting where they need to go. I also asked about the chelated products like Silver Wings - apparently chelating is surrounding the particle, which has an electrical charge, with a coating (in this case a mild protein) which renders it neutral in the water - that means that should there be particles (like minerals) that have an opposite charge present in the water, they would react with the silver (and knock it out of suspension). So, chelating adds stability and is a good thing, but it's really hard to do (which is probably why it's expensive). I use Silver Wings 500 ppm. Because it is chelated, it can be diluted with distilled water to 10-12 ppm. The particle size and purity are guaranteed. The people at this company are extremely nice, and helped me tremendously when they found out I was treating horses. <
